Whose fault is it anyway?

A former Oakland police officer charged with grand theft for allegedly falsifying time cards had a “misunderstanding” as to how to fill them in, his attorney says.

But court records filed in Alameda County Superior Court say that at least two colleagues grew suspicious because ex-officer Wallace Hunter routinely wouldn’t turn in his time cards to his superiors, claiming he or payroll would handle it. Or he’d turn them over so no one could see them. Or he’d cover them up so no one would see what he wrote. But one officer sitting behind him snuck a peek and could tell that he wasn’t putting in for comp time on his time card, investigators wrote in court papers.

Paul Brennan, an attorney with the powerhouse Rains, Lucia and Wilkinson law firm in Pleasant Hill, which defends police officers across Northern California, says the problem arose when officers switched to a new timecard system and had to “forecast” when they would work, as timecards were often due several days before their work week ended.

Not so fast, the department said in court records. Cops say an officer showed everyone how to fill in their time cards and that Hunter was among those who attended. They were duly taught how to fill in comp time, the department says.

Hunter is due back in court on July 16. He was fired in November for untruthfulness and disobeying rules and regulations.